,,. 



THE ABSENCE OF WATER IN 

CERTAIN SANDSTONES OF 

THE APPALACHIAN OIL-FIELDS 



BY 

FRANK REEVES 



A DISSERTATION 

Submitted to the Board of University Studies of 

the Johns Hopkins University in Conformity 

with the Requirements for the Degree 

of Doctor of Philosophy 



BALTIMORE 

MAY, I916 



THE ABSENCE OF WATER IN 

CERTAIN SANDSTONES OF 

THE APPALACHIAN OIL-FIELDS 



BY 

FRANK REEVES 



A DISSERTATION 

Submitted to the Board of University Studies of 

the Johns Hopkins University in Conformity 

with the Requirements for the Degree 

of Doctor of Philosophy 



BALTIMORE 

MAY, I916 






PRESS OF 

The new Era printing company 
Lancaster, pa 



Gift \ 

kg? i6 m 



THE ABSENCE OF WATER IN CERTAIN SAND- 
STONES OF THE APPALACHIAN OIL FIELDS. 



[Reprinted from Economic Geology, Vol. XII., No. 4, Juno, 191 7.] 



THE ABSENCE OF WATER IN CERTAIN SAND- 
STONES OF THE APPALACHIAN OIL FIELDS. 

Frank Reeves. 

Page. 

Introduction 354 

Description of the Area 355 

The Oil Sands and Their Water Content 358 

Evidence of Dryness of Sands 362 

Problem : That of the Disappearance of Connate Water 364 

Former Explanations 364 

Present Explanation 365 

Evidence that Air-filled Material will Exclude Water 366 

Geologic Conditions under which Sands were Dried 367 

Distribution of Red Beds and Occurrence of Water in Sands 368 

Explanation Conforms to Other Observations 373 

Further Conclusions 374 

Origin of Water 374 

Movement of Water 377 

Summary 378 

INTRODUCTION. 

The petroleum-bearing sandstones of the Catskill formation 
of the Devonian system in the Appalachian oil fields in south- 
western Pennsylvania and West Virginia to all appearances con- 
tain no water. The fact that the oil sands of Mississippian age 
overlying these contain an abundance of saline water led to the 
conclusion at first that the absence of water in the deeper oil sands 
was due to factors functional of their depth. With the sinking 
of deeper shafts in mining operations the facts revealed seemed to 
substantiate this belief, so that Van Hise's and other early geol- 
ogists' hypothesis, that water occurs in the earth's strata down 
to 10,000 meters or to a point where no porous area could per- 
sist under the great pressure of the weight of the superincumbent 
strata, was replaced by the belief among many geologists that 
below depths of from 1,500 to 2,000 feet little or no water occurs. 
Many metalliferous geologists have held to this belief and in sup- 

354 




ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 355 

port of it have cited the absence of water in the lower levels of 
many deep mines. 

In the following discussion, however, it will be pointed out that 
the idea that the absence of water in the oils and under discussion 
is" due to factors functional of depth is based on a wrong hypoth- 
esis and that their dryness instead is a result of the unusual geo- 
logical conditions under which they were deposited. 

The facts revealed by deep drilling in fields outside of the 
Appalachian region indicate that there is no general disappear- 
ance of water with depth. With the exception of local areas in 
Wyoming and Utah, water has been encountered in all the oil 
fields of the world at all depths to which the drill has penetrated, 
wherever the conditions of structure and porosity are favorable. 
In many areas in Oklahoma and California, the oil sands are 
reached at greater depths than in the Appalachian fields, yet in 
these deep sands water is encountered in copious amounts. Even in 
the Appalachian field itself two wells recently drilled to great 
depths have encountered prolific water-bearing formations below 
the dry sands. This would appear to be more reliable data on 
which to base a conclusion as to the water content of the earth's 
strata as a whole than that furnished by deep mines which Kemp 1 
and others cite as evidence that water disappears at shallow 
depths, since most deep mines are in areas where igneous intru- 
sions have brought about a recrystallization and cementation that 
to a great extent have destroyed the pores of the strata and dis- 
placed the water. 

Before considering the problem of the absence of water in the 
strata in question it will be necessary to describe briefly the broad 
geologic relations of the area, especially in regard to its struc- 
tural and stratigraphic features. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. 

Area! Geology. — The Appalachian oil field lies in a geosyncline 
which is generally known as the Appalachian coal basin. The 
surface strata over the greater portion of the basin are of Penn- 

1 Kemp, J. F., " Waters Meteoric and Magmatic," Mining and Scientific 
Press, Vol. 96, pp. 705-708, 1908. 



356 



FRANK REEVES. 



sylvanian age with a small area of Permian beds still extant in its 
middle (see Fig. 9). Around the edges of the basin strata of 
the Mississippian and Upper Devonian outcrop. Consequently 
the oil sands of these series reach the surface on the eastern side 




Fig. 9. Geology of Appalachian Oil Fields. 11, Permian; 12, Pennsylvanian : 
13, Mississippian; 15, Devonian; 16, Silurian; 17, Ordivician. 



of the basin along the Allegheny front and on the western side in 
central Ohio. The same strata outcrop around the northern end 
of the basin in northwestern Pennsylvania. 

Structure. — The rocks are but slightly folded in the area under 
consideration. They dip toward the broad middle part of the 
basin in West Virginia from the north, east, and west. From 



ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 



357 



the Allegheny front westward the general dip is interrupted by 
three or four folds, which become less and less accentuated and 
in which the strata attain lower and lower levels as they approach 
the middle part of the basin. Across this occur four or five minor 
flexures which are continuous over most of the area except in cen- 
tral West Virginia, where the normal structure of the basin is de- 
stroyed by a major fold of considerable magnitude, which runs 
north and south for thirty miles. The minor folds above mentioned 
have a general southwestern strike conforming to the normal 
alignment of Appalachian mountain folds. These folds vary in 
width from 6 to 8 miles. The strata in the anticlinal crests reach 
an altitude of from 200 to 500 feet above that attained in the 




VERTICAL SCALE EXAGGERATED 5 'TIME 

Fig. io. 



synclinal areas. Thus the dip is between 50 and 100 feet to the 
mile. From the Ohio River westward, the strata rise gently to 
their outcrop in central Ohio without any interruption except 
for structural terraces and an occasional slight fold. The struc- 
ture of the northern part of the Appalachian coal basin is shown 
in Fig. 11. 

The water content of the basin north of Pittsburgh is not con- 
sidered here, as the data is rather confusing, owing to the fact 
that the oil fields of this area were developed twenty years before 
those farther southward and water in many areas has penetrated 
the sands through old abandoned wells and destroyed the normal 
water conditions of the sands. For the same reason no discussion 



358 FRANK REEVES. 

is given of the water content of the shallow sands of the Penn- 
sylvanian series in the area here considered, as they lie more or 
less in the zone of circulating ground water and contain water 
unlike that in the deeper sands. Thus the discussion is limited 




Fig. ii. Contour on Big Injun sand, showing structure of the northern part 
and Appalachian coal basin. 

chiefly to the water content of the Mississippian and Upper 
Devonian strata of that part of the basin which underlies south- 
western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. 

THE OIL SANDS AND THEIR WATER CONTENT. 

Sands \of the Mississippian Series. — This series consists of 
from 600 to 800 feet of strata comprising three formations, the 
Mauch Chunk, Greenbrier, and Pocono. The first of these is a 
shale with a lenticular sandstone fades which when oil-bearing 
is known as the Maxton sand. The Greenbrier in most areas is 
represented by a limestone member of from 75 to 200 feet in 



ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 359 

thickness. It is absent only in the northern part of the geosyn- 
cline where it has been removed by pre-Pennsylvanian erosion. The 
limestone is too compact to hold either oil or water except in local 
areas in southeastern Ohio and southwestern West Virginia. The 
formation is known in the oil fields as the " Big" Lime." The Pocono 
formation consists of sandstone and shale. The Pocono sand- 
stone which varies from ioo to 250 feet -in thickness, lies at the 
top of the formation. This is the Big Injun oil sand. It is wide- 
spread in occurrence and rather uniform in thickness over great 
areas. Below this sandstone there are several hundred feet of 
shale beneath which is the Berea sand which is from 5 to 50 feet 
in thickness. At the base of the Mississippian is the Hundred- 
foot sand which underlies the Berea from 50 to 175 feet, the 
intervening strata being composed of shale. This sandstone is 
developed southward only a short distance beyond the south- 
western corner of Pennsylvania and in that regard is similar to 
the Upper Devonian oil sands. 

The oil sands of the Mississippian series are, generally speak- 
ing, water-bearing. They however do not contain water through- 
out their whole distribution. In most areas, there is a structural 
arrangement of the water, oil, and gas, the water occurring in 
the synclines, the gas in the anticlines, and the oil occupying an 
intermediate position. With a variation in the amount of water 
in the sand this arrangement is altered. With an increase in 
amount of water the oil is forced further up the flanks of the 
anticline so that where the sands are " saturated " the oil occupies 
the anticlinal crests. When such conditions are present the water 
and oil occur together, the water generally occurring in much 
greater quantities than the oil. Where there is no water in the 
sands the oil usually occupies the synclinal areas. 

Sands of the Catskill Formation. — Below the Hundred-foot 
sand occurs a series of red shales and thin reddish or white sand- 
stones which comprise the Catskill formation. No certain line 
can be fixed for the base of this formation for the criteria on 
which it is separated from the underlying Chemung is the lower 
limits of red material, which varies from place to place. East- 
ward along the outcrop the formation consists of from 600 to 



360 



FRANK REEVES. 



900 feet of alternating layers of shale and sandstone, red and 
green in color, which are unfossiliferous and in places sun- 
cracked and ripple-marked. The shale is both arenaceous and 
argillaceous and contains about 6 per cent, of ferric oxide. The 
sandstone is composed of a medium-grained, grayish-white sili- 
ceous material. On account of these features and the pre- 
dominant red color the Catskill can be definitely separated from 
the conglomeratic Pocono sandstone above and the olive-green, 
fossiliferous shale of the Chemung below. West of the outcrop 




Fig. 12. Catskill Sands. GH, Outcrop of Catskill Formation ; AB, Western 
Limit of Sands; EF, RS, AreasyContaining Red Beds; CD, MN Areas Con- 
taining Water. 



in the counties of southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West 
Virginia these sandstone members are important oil and gas bear- 
ing sands. Named in descending order they are : the Thirty- foot, 
Stray, Gordon or Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth or Bayard 
sands. West and south of the line AB indicated on the map (Fig. 
12) these sandstones, as well as the intervening red shale, are re- 
placed by dark shale. The sandstones themselves are very similar 



ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 3 61 

in color, texture, and composition to the oil sands of the Missis- 
sippian series. However, in thickness and persistence they differ, 
being thinner, seldom attaining a thickness of more than 50 feet 
and usually averaging about 25 feet. They are also more lenticu- 
lar than the Mississippian sands. Towards the eastern outcrop 
they become less and less definite units. The intervening shale 
members make up almost twice as much of the formation as the 
sandstones and average about 50 feet in thickness. The Catskill 
sands with the overlying Hundred-foot sand comprise the Ve- 
nango oil sand group which produces the most of the oil of south- 
western Pennsylvania. Possibly the most important commercially 
and the most persistent is the Gordon sandl It occurs about the 
middle of the formation and underlies the Big Injun sand about 
800 feet and the Pittsburgh coal 2,100 feet. It ranges in depth 
below the surface throughout the central part of the basin from 
2,000 to 3,000 feet. 

Sands below the Catskill. — Below the Catskill there are a few 
oil-producing sands in the Chemung but these occur farther 
northward in Pennsylvania and New York. In the area under 
consideration many wells have penetrated the Chemung but usu- 
ally nothing is encountered but close-grained shale. Here and 
there gas has been found in the Speechly sand which occurs 
about the middle of the formation. Two wells, mentioned above, 
have gone to greater depths and have penetrated strata below the 
Chemung. One 2 drilled in 191 2 near Charleston, West Virginia, 
passed through 2,840 feet of shale below the Berea sandstone 
and encountered the Lower Devonian limestone in which a big 
flow of saline water was found at a depth of 5,592 feet below 
the surface. Another well, 3 near McDonald, Pennsylvania, pene- 
trated the Lower Devonian limestone 4,386 feet below the Berea. 
At a distance of 252 feet below the top of this limestone and at a 
depth of 6,260 feet a sandstone, possibly the Oriskany, was en- 
countered which contained a concentrated brine which rose 4,000 
feet in the well. 

2 Introduction, Kanawha County Rept, W. Va. Geol. Survey, pp. 1-5, 1914. 

3 White, I. C, "Note on a Very Deep Well near McDonald, Pa.," Bull. 
Geol. Soc. Amer., Vol. 24, pp. 215-282, 1913. 



362 FRANK REEVES. 

With the exception of the water found at the above-mentioned 
horizons, little is encountered below the Carboniferous except in 
some areas of very local extent. The dryness of the Catskill 
sands was noted early in the history of the oil industry and as 
stated above was attributed to the depth at which the sands were 
found. But, as will be shown, it is due to other causes. 

EVIDENCE OF DRYNESS OF SANDS. 

It appears necessary here to consider the evidence of the dry- 
ness of the sands, for although it has long been a seemingly 
well-established fact that the sands of the Catskill in the area 
mentioned are free from water, yet many geologists think that 
this dryness is only apparent and that in reality they contain 
water. Thus Munn 4 states that water is present in all sands, 
but on account of its static state in strata below the zone of 
circulating ground waters, it is under no hydraulic head and 
hence does not enter the bore hole. Shaw 5 offers the argument 
that these deep sands do not yield any water because they are 
more nearly sealed than the sands at less depth and hence when 
they are penetrated by the drill no water enters the well because 
if it did a vacuum would be left in the sand. Others insist that 
the non-appearance of water in the wells is due to the compactness 
of the sand or to structural conditions. Some argue that hygro- 
scopic water is present and hence that these sands are not dry. But 
this is beside the point, for what is meant here by dryness is an 
absence of free water in the sand in sufficient quantities to appear 
in the wells when the sand is penetrated by the drill. Thus, in 
reality, it is a comparative term, but to be exact, no rock in its 
native condition is entirely free from moisture. The difference, 
however, between the water content of most oil sands, where 
water occurs at least in the synelines, and that of a sand where no 
water appears in any part of its distribution, shows a sufficient 
contrast to apply to the latter the term of " dry sand." 

4 Munn, M. J., " The Menifee Gas Field and the Ragland Oil Field, Ken- 
tucky," Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey, No. 531a, p. 26. 

5 Shaw, E. W., " Discussion of Roswell Johnson's paper on the Role and 
Fate of Connate Water in Oil and Gas Sands," Trans. Amer. Inst. Min. Eng., 
Vol. 93, pp. 221-227, February, 1915. 



ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 3 6 3 

In considering the explanations of Munn and Shaw, the fact need 
only be mentioned that water has been found below the Catskill 
sands in the two wells mentioned above, to vitiate the force of 
their arguments as they are based chiefly on the factor of depth. 
The fallacy of these explanations is also apparent when it is 
pointed out that the impelling force which generally drives water 
into the well is gas pressure and not the force resulting from 
hydraulic movement or the hydrostatic head of the water. Again, 
it is impossible to explain why oil should flow into a well and not 
water, for it is improbable that small bodies of oil could be 
moving around in the sand independently of the water. A flow 
of oil in a bore hole would also create as much of a vacuum in the 
sand as a flow of water, yet throughout thousands of square miles, 
where it is claimed that no water will enter these sands because 
there is no hydraulic force or where the sand is too nearly sealed, 
oil appears freely, and yet oil is more viscous than water and 
hence would have a greater tendency to remain in the sand than 
the water. Again, if the sand is porous enough to yield oil it is 
of sufficient porosity to yield water. It is impossible that the 
water should always occur in the compact areas and the oil in the 
porous areas. This might be possible in a horizontal sand, for 
often under such conditions the oil occupies the most porous layer, 
the water occurring in the rest of the sand. But in areas where 
there are definite folds there is a structural arrangement of the oil 
and water, independent of the porosity of the sand, with the 
water, for the most part, occupying the synclines. Instead the 
oil pools in the sands of the Catskill formation usually occur in 
the synclines, which is in striking contrast to the structural oc- 
currence of oil in most other fields of the world where oil gen- 
erally occupies anticlines or structural terraces. 

The evidence upon which the argument for dryness is based is 
not obtained from a local area. Througout all southwestern 
Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia these sands have been 
penetrated by the drill, in an area of at least 10,000 square miles. 
Across this area there are about five parallel folds and thousands 
of wells have tested the synclines as well as the anticlines with the 
result that oil and gas have been found in numerous localities. 



364 FRANK REEVES. 

Many of the oil wells have been of the gusher type, that is, oil is 
forced out of the wells by gas pressure which occurs in the sand 
back of the oil, but with the exception of two local areas, no water 
has appeared. This, coupled with the fact that the oil occupies 
the syncline, makes it appear as a proven fact that these sands 
contain no free water. 

PROBLEM THAT OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF CONNATE WATER. 

With the absence of water in the Catskill sands reasonably 
established we may next consider whether this absence is due to 
the disappearance of connate water or to the non-appearance of 
meteoric water. This of course raises the much-debated question 
of the origin of oil brines, for if these brines are connate then 
the present problem is the explanation of how the Catskill sands 
became depleted of their water of deposition. If, on the other 
hand, such brines are meteoric in origin then it becomes necessary 
to explain why meteoric water has not penetrated the sands. 
Considerations of these problems suggest that the brines are 
connate, for there is at present no satisfactory explanation of 
how the water occluded with sediments may have been removed 
from them in an area that has undergone as little deformation 
and metamorphism as the strata of the above-described geo- 
syncline. 

FORMER EXPLANATIONS. 

The explanations usually offered for the disappearance of con- 
nate water through processes of hydration of minerals, con- 
solidation of sediments, expansion and evaporation of the water 
due to heat and drainage as a result of elevation, are not adequate 
to explain the phenomenon, as may be briefly pointed out. 

There are few minerals in sedimentary strata capable of uniting 
with water, and these would be more likely to be hydrated when 
they were being transported as water-borne sediments than while 
subjected to the dehydration forces of pressure and heat conse- 
quent to their position in deeply buried strata. Again, the factor of 
consolidation of sediments would not be effective because com- 
pression, though it might lower the porous areas of the sediments, 



ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 3 6 5 

could not decrease the percentage of saturation and the porous 
area remaining would still be occupied by water. Heat apparently 
could have been no effective factor in removing the water, as 
there is but 4 per cent, increase in volume when the temperature 
of water is raised from 4 C. to ioo° C, which is a much greater 
variation in temperature than is brought about in the change 
in earth temperatures in a geologic cycle. Heat could not, 
on the other hand, drive off the water by evaporation as the dry 
strata are everywhere covered with saturated rocks. Elevation 
apparently could not have resulted in drainage of the sands due 
to the synclinal structure of the basin. All of these explanations 
might be considered in greater detail but for the fact that the dis- 
covery of water at greater depths has shown that these ideas are 
untenable, as they are based chiefly on the factor of depth. 

Johnson 6 has discussed the question of how water may be re- 
moved from strata by the compacting of the sediments, the for- 
mation of cement materials and the development of gas. These 
processes, he thinks, would have a tendency to decrease the pore 
space and to increase the amount of material to occupy it. Thus, 
in a sand of no great thickness some of the material would be 
forced out and, as the water is less viscous than the oil, it is dis- 
placed first by being driven upward through fissures and joints 
and by occupying the pores of the shale. It is difficult to under- 
stand how these forces are going to effect such a selective action, 
since under the pressures that would bring this about, the mate- 
rials would have the same viscosity and surface tension. It is 
impossible to believe also that the water would migrate upward 
across several layers of sands and impervious shales leaving the 
oil behind subject to the pressure under which it is found. 

PRESENT EXPLANATION. 

Having noted that the explanations usually given for the ab- 
sence of water in sedimentary strata are not adequate to explain 
the dryness of the sands under consideration, the problem was 
attacked on the principle that the absence of water was due to 

6 Johnson, R. H., " The Role and Fate of Connate Water in Oil and Gas 
Sands," Trans. Amer. Inst. Mm. Eng., Vol. 98, pp. 221-227, February, 1915. 



366 FRANK REEVES. 

processes which removed the connate water and not to conditions 
that prevented the entrance of meteoric water. Working on this 
hypothesis the following conclusion was reached : that the sedi- 
ments were dried out after they were deposited as river-borne 
sediments and their porous areas filled with air which later pre- 
vented water from penetrating them during submergence beneath 
the sea. 

Evidence that Air-filled Sediments Will Exclude Water. — This 
idea rests primarily on the principle that air-filled material will 
exclude water, and though this may appear improbable yet facts 
seem to substantiate it. 

King 7 states that in arid regions or during dry seasons in more 
humid areas the soil will be dried out and be so filled with air that 
water will penetrate the surface with great difficulty. Whitney 8 
says that water will not readily penetrate dry strata and cites 
areas where a rainfall of 50 cm. per year occurring at one season 
results in the water remaining within a few meters of the surface, 
while an entirely dry and dusty mass occurs adjacent to it. The 
following experiment also demonstrates the same fact. 

A number of glass tubes ^ meter in length and 30 centimeters 
in diameter were two thirds filled with dry sands of different 
fineness. The upper third of the tubes were then filled with 
water. This water would in a few minutes saturate about 60 
centimeters of the upper portion of the sand, displacing all the 
air, part of which was forced downward, the other part rising to 
the surface of the water in bubbles. Below the saturated zone 
no water penetrated except hygroscopic water, which did not 
reach the bottom of the tubes, except in the finer-grained sands. 
In some of the coarser-grained sands after a month had passed 
the materials in the lower portion of the tube were entirely dry, 
while in the finer-grained, though each grain might have a film 
of water around it, the space between the grains was unoccupied 
except by air. At the end of this time, water was still standing 
in the upper part of the tubes. 

7 King, F. H., loc. cit., p. 93, 1897-98. 

8 Whitney, J. D., Weather Bureau, Bull. No. 4, U. S. Dept. Agriculture, p. 
14, 1892. 



ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 3 6 7 

Geological Conditions Under Which the Sands Were Dried. — 
The general character of the rocks of the Catskill formation sug- 
gest that they had an origin which would make such an ex- 
planation of the origin of the dry sands possible. Along its 
eastern outcrop this formation is composed of unassorted, unfos- 
siliferous sandstones and shales which are almost entirely red in 
color and which are ripple-marked and sun-cracked. In the oil 
fields it is composed of white sandstone alternating with red and 
dark shales, while farther west the whole formation grades into 
a dark compact shale which contains marine fossils. This change 
in the lithology of the formation from east to west is explained 
by the fact that the rocks represent deposits formed along an 
oscillating shore line of the sea which occupied this area during 
most of Paleozoic time. In Upper Devonian time this sea was 
very shallow and was bordered on the east by a low coastal plain 
which extended to the highlands of Appalachia, still farther east. 
Over this low, flat-lying land rivers meandered which received 
their loads from the eastward land mass. During flood periods 
these rivers spread out over their flood plains, depositing the 
coarse material there or directly offshore, while the finer sedi- 
ments were carried farther out to sea. During periods of little 
rainfall on the highlands the rivers did not occupy their flood 
plain and the sediments deposited there during the last period of 
flood were dried out and filled with air, which prevented water 
from entering them again when the next season of rainfall caused 
the rivers to leave their banks and cover the plain. Along the 
littoral zone the waves sorted the mud and sand, carrying the 
former farther out to sea and leaving the latter distributed as 
sand layers along the littoral zone. These materials not being 
exposed to the air were not oxidized or depleted of their water. 
But as the sea was shallow, slight movements caused by sub- 
sidence of the sea floor and oscillations of the land together with 
the silting up of the shallow continental sea brought about a con- 
stant oscillation of the strand line and hence there occurs through- 
out the area under consideration a complete interfingering of 
marine and continental deposits, the former being represented by 
dark shale and white sandstone and the latter by " red beds." 



368 FRANK REEVES. 

Such conditions would expose the sand to the action of the air and 
result in its desaturation with the formation of red sediments. 
With the transgression and recession of the sea the general coastal 
alignments due to the salient features of the land mass would 
persist and be apparent in the general distribution of the " red 
beds." Thus, a line drawn through the most westerly occurrence 
of red shale would show, approximately, the shore line during 
the greatest recession of the seas at that particular time. To the 
east of this line the sediments making up the stratum would have 
been dried out during this recession and exposure to the atrnps- 
phere. 

On examining the data of the occurrence of salt water in a 
sand there is a striking relationship between areas in which there 
is no water and those in which the material directly overlying 
the sand contains no red color. This holds good not only for the 
Catskill but for sands in the Mississippian in which " red beds " 
occur, marking periods in which there were recessions of the sea, 
or a recurrence of the conditions which effected the deposition of 
the Catskill red beds. 

DISTRIBUTION OF RED BEDS AND OCCURRENCE OF WATER. 

The relationship between the distribution of red beds and the 
occurrence of water in the Maxton, Big Injun, Hundred-foot, 
and Catskill sands is represented in Figs. 13, 14, 15, and 12. 
These maps have been compiled from hundreds of well records 
published in the Bulletins of the United States Geological Sur- 
vey and in the reports of the West Virginia and Ohio Geological 
Surveys, together with other records and data obtained by the 
writer from various oil companies operating in the Appalachian 
field. 

In these maps the lines used to denote " red beds " and occur- 
rence of water are to be considered as indicating areas, rather 
than as definite boundaries, for many things have to be con- 
sidered in determining the wet and dry areas of a sand. The 
presence also of red shale in a drill hole is not always noted, yet 
this introduces uncertainty only in fixing the exact limits of 



ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 



369 




Fig. 13. Maxton Sand. CD, Eastern Outcrop; AB. Northern and West- 
ern Limit of Sand; GH, Eastern Limit of Water; EF, Western Limit of 
Red Beds. 




Fig. 14. Big Injun Sand. AB, CD, Outcrops; GH, Eastern Limit of Water; 
EF, Western Limit of Red Beds Associated with Sand. 



37o 



FRANK REEVES. 



these areas, which as a whole are clearly recognizable. Thus, 
to the east of the dotted lines there is a definite occurrence of 
red shale and sandstone. In this region also there is a widely 
observed absence of water which is in striking contrast to areas 
to the west where the synclines almost invariably contain large 
volumes of water. This general distribution of water can in no 
way be explained by the structure of the basin as a whole. East- 
ward towards the outcrop of each sand, water is found in some 




Fig. 15. Hundred-foot Sand. GB, Outcrop; AB, Western Limit of Sand; 
AC, BD, Areas Associated with Red Beds ; EHF, Areas Containing Water. 



wells but such water has comparatively little mineral matter in 
solution and is, apparently, meteoric water which has entered 
from the outcrop. Some of the relations of the " red beds" and 
the distribution of water may be best brought out by a separate 
consideration of each sand. 

Maxton. — The Maxton, as noted above, is a sandstone facies 
of the Mauch Chunk shale. North and west of the line A-B in 
Fig. 12 this sandstone member is replaced by shale. A little 



ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 37 'I 

further west the shale disappears, being removed by erosion indi- 
cated by the unconformity previously mentioned. That part of 
F-G which passes through Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, 
Pennsylvania, is approximately the northern limit of the Mauch 
Chunk formation. East of the line the Mauch Chunk shale is 
generally red and in this area the Maxton sand is non-water- 
bearing, while to the west of G-H it contains a great quantity of 
water. This dry condition of the sand is borne out, also, by the 
structural position of the oil pools, which to the east occur in 
synclines, whereas to the west they occupy some part of the anti- 
clines. 

Big Injun. — The Big Injun sand underlies the whole area be- 
tween its eastern and western outcrop and throughout the central 
part of this area it is an important oil, gas, and water-producing 
sand. The line H—G represents closely the eastern limit of the 
saline water which occurs rather widely distributed throughout 
the sand to the west. The non-occurrence of the water farther 
east is usually thought to be due to the general structural fea- 
tures of the geosyncline, for in the northern part of the basin this 
water line conforms very closely to the eastern edge of the 
central part of the basin. To the south this does not hold, as will 
be seen by reference to Fig. n. In this area the Big Injun is re- 
ported often as a red sandstone, which is in a striking contrast to 
its white or gray color in most other areas. Also the oil pools 
found in this sand to the south occupy synclines. An occurrence 
of asphalt near Sago, Upshur County, associated with the red 
material in the Big Injun sand, adds further evidence that the 
absence of water in this area is due to the sediments of the for- 
mation being exposed to the air. 

Hundred-foot Sand. — The Hundred-foot sand, as is indicated 
by line A-B, Fig. 15, does not persist far to the south or west. In 
the area included in the line E-H-F water occurs. The absence 
of water to the east of H-F may be due chiefly to structure as 
the strata at about this line begin to rise rapidly along the western 
flank of the Chestnut Ridge anticlines. Yet, the Hundred-foot 
sand contains red facies to the southeast and the dryness of the 
sand in this area may have been brought about by the condition 



372 FRANK REEVES. 

which produced the red shale. The relationship of red beds to 
the occurrence of salt water is more obvious in southwestern 
Pennsylvania, especially in Beaver County and western Alle- 
gheny and Washington counties where there is a general absence 
of water in the Hundred-foot sand, while further east water 
occurs in considerable quantities. Munn and Griswold 9 have 
associated this distribution of water with the structural con- 
ditions of the strata, yet it is notable that in the areas where 
no salt water occurs there is a considerable development of red 
shale above the sand and no red shale is noted in well records in 
the area where water occurs in the Hundred-foot. 

Catskill Sands. — The Catskill sands, which comprise the 
Thirty-foot or Ninevah sand, Gordon Stray, Gordon or Third 
sand, and the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth sands, will be considered 
together, as they all have about the same distribution and general 
absence of water. West of the line A-B both the sands and the 
intervening red shale are replaced by dark shale. East of this 
line the sands, with the exception of local areas indicated by C—D 
and M-N, contain no water. Toward the outcrop H—B fresh 
water occasionally occurs in the few wells drilled this far east. 
The Gordon sand in the central part of this area yields very small 
quantities of salt water after a well has been pumped for a num- 
ber of years. The quantity of salt water is almost negligible, 
however, amounting on an average to about a barrel a week. 
With these exceptions the sands to all appearances are dry. This 
is verified by the fact that the oil almost invariably occurs in the 
synclines. In the two local areas above mentioned salt water 
appears in considerable quantities. These areas have no relation 
to the structural features of the basin as a whole, for they exist 
at places structurally 600 to 1,000 feet above the lower part of 
the basin. The sands are oil and gas-bearing in these areas and 
from all appearances resemble the Catskill sands elsewhere. The 
exact boundaries of the area in which no red shale occurs can not 
be defined exactly, but it is limited to the territory indicated by 

9 Munn, M. J., and Griswold, W. T., " Geology of Oil and Gas Fields in 
Stubenville, Burgettstown, and Claysville Quad.," Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey, 
No. 318, p. 16, 1907. 



ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 373 

the lines R-S and E-F. As might be expected, every well that 
contains salt water in these areas may not show an absence of 
red material for there may have been some local movement of 
water along the sands. 

EXPLANATION CONFORMS TO OTHER OBSERVATIONS. 

The data given above appears to show a close relationship be- 
tween absence of water and occurrence of red beds. When it is 
considered that the sands are dry to the east, where all the facts 
indicate subaerial deposits, and water-bearing to the westward, 
where they grade into marine deposits, it is but logical to conclude 
that the explanation of the absence of water is, as has been stated, 
due to the aeration of sediments of continental origin. This con- 
clusion not only offers an explanation of the absence of water 
but adds corroborative evidence that the conditions of deposition 
and climate of the Catskill red beds were as Barrell 10 has de- 
scribed, that of a delta deposit formed in a semiarid, warm 
climate of seasonal rainfall, a conclusion which he bases on other 
physical and organic evidence. It also confirms his belief that 
the red beds of the Catskill and Mississippian were formed as a 
result of oxidation of the sediments after they were deposited, 
for on no other assumption could the close relation of the red 
beds and the sands be explained in the area under consideration. 

There is a probability that the red color may have in part de- 
veloped since the burial of the deposits as the air locked up in the 
sediments may have effected oxidation during the periods of 
geologic time which have elapsed since the Devonian. The ab- 
sence of red color in some of the oil sands may be due to a num- 
ber of factors in which low content of iron, the presence of 
organic material, and the short period of exposure to the atmos- 
phere may have played a part. It is possible that some sands 
may have been depleted of water by the dry shale absorbing their 
water through capillary action. 

The hypothesis of the origin of the dry sand and red beds is 
supported strongly by the data of other fields, for whenever oil 

10 Barrell, Joseph, " The Upper Devonian Delta of the Appalachian Geo- 
syncline," 1913, Amer. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., Vol. XXXVI., pp. 46S-472. 



374 



FRANK REEVES. 



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ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 37 5 



Anal. i. Sample No. i. Russell Heirs, No. 2, Carter Oil Co., near Paden 
City, Wetzel County, W. Va., Big Injun sand, depth 1,425, 5 bbls. salt water 
daily. 

Anal. 2. Sample No. 3. Fiel No. 2. E. A. Bradley, owner ; Jackson town- 
ship, Monroe County, Ohio. Big Injun sand, depth 1,355, 3 bbls. water daily. 

Anal. 3. Sample No. 6. J. T. Craw, American Oil Company, Cave Run, 
Pleasants County, W. Va. Keener sand, depth 1,700. 

Anal. 4. Sample No. 7. Cow Run well, American Oil Company, Cave Run, 
Pleasants County, W. Va. Depth 900, 2 bbls. water daily. 

Anal. 5. Sample No. 9. Isaiah Baker, No. 1, South Penn Oil Company, 
Muddy Creek, Tyler County, W. Va. Big Injun sand, depth 2,000, 20 bbls. 
water daily. 

Anal. 6. Sample No. 10. S. E. Elliott, No. 12, South Penn Oil Company, 
Bell Run, Lafayette district, Wirt County, W. Va. Salt sand, depth 1,600, 
25 bbls. water da*ily. 

Anal. 7. Sample No. LL. Maggie McDonald, No. 1, South Penn Oil 
Company, at McDonald, Allegheny County, Pa. Fifth sand, depth 2,200, J^ 
bbl. water daily. 

Anal. 8. Sample No. 16. D. C. Rankin, well No. 1, Fairview township, 
Butler County, Pa. Fourth sand, depth 1,623-1,654, i l / 2 bbls. salt water daily. 
South Penn Oil Company. 

Anal. 9. Sample No. 21. A. B. Kelly, well No. 19, Tionesta township, 
Forest County, Pa. Second sand, depth 948-964, 3 bbls. water daily. 

Anal. 10. Sample No. 22. Lemmon farm, well No. 1, Pinegrove township, 
Venango County, Pa. Third sand, depth 1,006-1,024 Originally about 60 
bbls. salt water daily, now 14 bbls. South Penn Oil Company. 

Anal. 11. Sample No. 24. Prentice farm, well No. 16, Cranberry town- 
ship, Venango County, Pa. Second sand, depth 622-645. Originally 15 bbls. 
salt water daily, now about 1 bbl. daily. South Penn Oil Company. 

Anal. 12. Sample No. 25. Warrant 3802, well No. 2, Howe township, 
Forest County, Pa. Clarion sand, depth 709-731. Producing r / 2 bbl. salt 
water daily; would have produced 200 bbls. daily if not plugged. South Penn 
Oil Company. 



376 FRANK REEVES. 

sands occur in marine formations, as in the Trenton fields of 
Ohio and Indiana, the Gulf Coast, California, Baku, Roumania, 
and Galician fields, the sands contain great quantities of water, 
while in the fields of Wyoming, Utah, and Alberta, Canada, 
where the producing sands are closely associated with non-marine 
deposits, the sands contain less water. The Clinton sand, which 
is reported as non-water-bearing in most areas in Central Ohio, 
is closely associated with red strata. The occurrence of " red 
beds" with water-bearing sands in the mid-continent field of 
Kansas and Oklahoma is not contradictory to the conclusions 
here drawn, as in a recent investigation of the origin of the red 
beds in this area, Tomlinson 11 has reported them to be due to 
transported residual red soil. 

FURTHER CONCLUSIONS. 

Origin of Water. — If the dry sands have originated as ex- 
plained, it follows that the brines still occurring in the sands at 
depths below the zone of active circulating ground waters are 
connate. The chemical nature of these brines are shown by the 
analyses (page 374) of 12 samples collected in connection with 
this study. On page 377 these brines are expressed in per- 
centages of the total dissolved matter present. It will be noted 
that the brines show a close uniformity in the relative proportion 
of various salts present. When compared with ocean water it 
may be noted that they are from 3 to 7 times as concentrated, and 
that they are richer in chlorine and calcium and poorer in 
sulphates and sodium. How the transition from the ocean water 
to the brines has been effected is not the province of this paper to 
explain. Yet it may be pointed out that Washburne's 12 sug- 
gestion that the excess of chlorine has been added from deep- 
seated sources does not appear to be substantiated. Two brines, 
No. 7 and B, page 377, collected in the same locality but from 
sands occurring at a difference in depth of 4,000 feet show no 

11 Tomlinson, C. W., " The Origin of Red Beds. A Study of the Conditions 
of Origin of the Permo-Carboniferous and Triassic Red Beds of the Western 
United States," Jour. Geol., Vol. XXIV., pp. 153-179, 238-253, 1916. 

12 Washburne, C. W., " Chlorides in Oil Field Waters," Bull. Amer. Inst. 
Min. Eng., Vol. XLVIIL, pp. 687-694, 1913. 



ABSENCE OF WATER IN SANDSTONES. 377 

Table Expressing Analyses in Per Cent, of Total Salts Present. 



3 
4 
S 
6 

7 
8 

9 

10 

ii 

12 

A. 
B. 



SiOo. 


Fe. 


Co. 


Mg. 


HCO3. 


so 4 . 


CI. 


•IS 


.02 


8.77 


1-33 


•03 




61.99 


• 15 


.01 


8-53 


1 -35 


.01 




62.02 


.01 


.02 


7.29 


2.02 


.01 


.006 


62.28 


.26 


.10 


•85 


.42 


1.44 




59-50 


.06 


.02 


8.77 


i-5i 


.002 




62.17 


1-75 


.01 


7.10 


1.53 


.08 




60.93 


.02 


.07 


8.70 


1.30 


.02 


•03 


61.14 


.04 


.04 


7.82 


1-45 


.02 


.08 


61.96 


.008 


.06 


8.87 


1.29 


.04 




61.74 


.04 


.02 


8.79 


1.61 


.04 


.006 


62.11 


.04 


•03 


7.96 


1-73 


.06 


•15 


62.02 


.01 


•05 


8-SS 


2.36 




•SO 


61.40 


— 





1.20 


3-72 


.21 


7.69 


55-29 


— 


.06 


9-56 


•94 


— 


.02 


61.34 



28.28 



27.68 
27.90 
28.26 
37.40 
27.44 
28.57 
27.83 

27.64 

27.26 

27.97 
27.88 



•34 



30.59 
24.50 



1. 11 
1.97 



Salinity. 



13.60565 

n-9935 
I4-72334 
•70582 
10.5681 
10.6551 
11.7994 
10.11102 
11.4499 
12.99968 
11.1164 
8.5176 
10.56218 
26.36 



For explanations of Nos. 1 to 12 see page 375. 

A. A mean of 77 analyses of ocean water from many localities, collected by 
the Challenger Expedition. W. Dittman, Challenger Report, quoted by Clarke, 
" Data of Geochemistry," Bull. 616 U. S. Geol. Survey, p. 123, 1916. 

B. Water from 6,300 depth in Peoples natural gas well, near McDonald, 
Pa. ; analyses by G. Steiger in laboratory of U. S. Geol. Survey, from Clarke, 
idem, p. 183. 

increase in chlorine at the greater depth which would be expected 
if the chlorine originated from such a source. 

Movement of Water. — The movement of the water in the 
earth's strata and especially in oil-bearing sands has been the 
subject of much literature in consideration of the part it has 
played in the segregation and migration of oil. Some have held 
that there has been a widespread movement both across and 
along the strata. It is obvious, however, that, if the above ex- 
planation is correct, in the deeper sands in the area under con- 
sideration there has been no wide movement of the water or 
migration of the oil. Undoubtedly local movements due to ad- 
justments to minor local structural features have occurred, but 
these were brought about during long geologic periods. Thus 
the liquids lying at these depths are to be considered as existing 
in a static condition. However, with the boring of wells to these 
sands, with the consequent escape of the oil and gas and the in- 
troduction of water through bore holes, this static state is de- 
stroyed and local movements occur along the strata. Another 



37& FRANK REEVES. 

conclusion that can be drawn is that there has not been, as Day 13 
has suggested, in the eastern fields a migration of the heavier oils, 
presumably of Trenton age, upward across the strata which has 
produced by fractionation the lighter oils of the Devonian and 
Carboniferous sands. That this diffusion on theoretical ground 
could not occur through moist shale has been pointed out by 
Kalickij. 14 The distribution also of the water in the sands proves 
that there has been no such movement, for if there had been an 
upward movement of oil there could more easily have been one 
of water (water is less viscous and, due to its greater surface 
tension, has a greater capillary force than oil), which apparently 
has not occurred, for there are dry sands, i. e., the Catskill, lying 
between prolific water-bearing strata. 

summary. 

There seems to be good evidence that the non-water-bearing 
sandstones of the Catskill formation in southwestern Pennsyl- 
vania and West Virginia were dried out by the semi-arid con- 
ditions which existed during Catskill time, which also brought 
about the formation of continental "red beds." In addition to 
this conclusion and partly resulting from it, the statement can 
be made that the facts observed do not substantiate the idea held 
by some geologists that there is a disappearance of water with 
depth. It is quite likely also that the brines found in oil fields and 
other deep-seated sedimentary strata are connate waters. 

13 Day, David T., "Diffusion of Oil through Fullers Earth," U. S. Geol. 
Survey, Bull. No. 365, 1908. 

14 Kalickij, K., " Uber die Migration der Erdols," Bull, der Comite Geolo- 
gique, Vol. XIX., No. 7, p. 692, 191 1. 



VITA 

Frank Reeves was born October n, 1886, near Fairmont, 
West Virginia. His early training was received in the public 
schools of that city. His collegiate work was taken in Wooster 
University, Wooster, Ohio, and in the State University of West 
Virginia at Morgantown, where he received the degree of 
Balchelor of Arts in 191 1. During the last four years he has 
been a student in the graduate department of geology at Johns 
Hopkins University, holding a Johns Hopkins University 
scholarship in the year 1915-1916. 

He was employed during the field season of 1914 with a 
United States Geological Survey party in Ohio. The summer 
of 1915 was spent in the oil-fields of West Virginia and Penn- 
sylvania, gathering data for the preparation of this dissertation. 



mSfill ° F C0 ^REss 



" " "'in 11 III III llll 

029 708" 345 4 



